Day 9 – Bern (2)

We continued our walking tour of Bern  in Marktgasse but the street name changes to Kramgasse.

8.  Kramgasse
Kramgasse meaning “Grocers Alley” has many shops.  There are three fountains  in this street: Kreuzgassbrunnen (built in 1778-79), Simsonbrunnen (built in 1527) and Zähringerbrunnen.
Kramgasse
Kreuzgassbrunnen
9.  Zähringer Fountain
Hans Hiltprand built this fountain in 1535.  It consists of a bear and the coat of arms of the house of Zähringen.  Berchtold von Zähringen was the founder of Bern.
Zähringer Fountain
10.  Albert Einstein's Home
Kramgasse 49 was the residence of Albert Einstein from 1903 to 1905 and he wrote his “theory of relativity” here.  We did not go into the museum but continued walking. (And the rain stopped)
Albert Einstein's Home
11.Samson Fountain
The fountain was built in 1544 by Hans Gieng and represents the biblical story of Samson killing a lion.
Samson Fountain
12.  Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen or Justice Fountain
The street name changes again to Gerechtigkeitgasse. Here we found the copy of the Justice fountain by Hans Gieng.  The original 1543 fountain was vandalized in 1986 and we saw it in the museum.  The statue is of Lady Justice holding the sword of justice and a balance with blindfolded eyes.
Gerechtigkeitgasse
Justice Fountain
It was about 12:30 and we had to speed walk back to the station to meet Erik and Ariane.  We went shopping for a birthday gift for my dad and decided on a Swiss watch.  After shopping Ariane wanted to show us the Bundeshaus and we decided to change the order of the tour.  We walked pass Bundesplatz and the Swiss National Bank to the Bundeshaus.
Bundesplatz
Swiss National Bank
Location: Berne, Switzerland

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eyewitness Travel Guides – A Book Review

Image
  Last month I wrote a book review and I enjoyed it.   Today I want to share some more of my favourite travel books.   DK Eyewitness Travel Guides I bought my first travel guide in 2008. I was planning a trip with my friend Lelanie to London and Europe.   While planning the trip I bought the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe and I paid R 282.00 for it.   Except for my university textbooks, this was the most expensive book I have ever bought for myself.    We were doing a Contiki Tour and visited 7 countries.   I studied the information in guide the about the cities we would visit.    I made lists of places I want to see and then looked for more information about them.   In the end I did not take the guide with me (the 800 pages was just to heavy to carry along) but packed all my lists to use.  At Departures at Cape Town Airport in 2008 My second guide was for the same trip.   The Eyewitness Trave...
Read more

Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê

Image
   Weather vane on the VGK Church in Carnarvon    This photo made me think of a song we used to sing as kids.    It is a traditional Afrikaans song about the rooster on top of the church. The words of the song and its translation: Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower Dis die haan, Dis die haan It’s the rooster, It’s the rooster Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower More about all the churches and other buildings we saw in Carnarvon in the next post.
Read more

Dutch Reformed Mother Church, George

Image
One of my favourite sights in George is the white Dutch Reformed Mother Church with the beautiful Outeniqua Mountain as background.   I have many memories of visiting this church: On a history class trip when I was about 10, for a art class when I was about 13, for my cousins wedding in 2004, for her baby’s christening a few years later and many other times.   But most of all I like seeing this church every time we drive through town.   The cornerstone for the church was laid on 14 April 1832.   Slaves were used for some of the building work like the digging of the six-foot deep by five-foot wide foundations.   Due to financial problems it took 12 years to complete the church and it was consecrated in 9 October 1842.  The church is a National Heritage Site. On 13 September 1905 disaster struck when the church tower collapsed.   The wood rotted from water damage and lead to the walls weakening.   After a lot of rain for two days t...
Read more